1 September 2022

London, England: The Professional Triathletes Organisation has announced a strong contingent of American female triathletes for the $1 million PTO US Open women’s race in Dallas, 17-18 September, led by PTO World #7 Taylor Knibb and supported by #15 Jackie Hering, #18 Jocelyn McCauley, #23 Sophie Watts, #37 Danielle Lewis and #56 Lesley Smith. 

They will be up against a stellar line-up of international stars including: PTO Canadian Open winner and runner-up Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) and Paula Finlay (CAN); Team Europe Collins Cup winner Holly Lawrence (GBR) and the resurgent Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR), who bounced back from injury in spectacular fashion by winning the recent World Triathlon Long Distance World Championships in Samorin on her return from injury.

Commenting on the announcement Taylor Knibb said:

“I’m really excited the PTO Tour is coming to the US in its first season. The chance to race in our home country is a huge opportunity for all of the American women taking part and having seen the success of the first couple of PTO Tour events in Edmonton, Canada, and then last month’s Collins Cup I can’t wait to get involved.”

The field features 13 of the world’s top 25 PTO World Ranked female triathletes and will take place on a specially designed course in Las Colinas, that will create a stadium-feel event where fans will see the athletes as many as 12 times during the 100km race. 

McCauley, who has competed in both the Collins Cup and the PTO Canadian Open so far this season, added: 

“The PTO Tour is a great addition to our calendar and speaking to all the professional athletes during the season, the dates have quickly established themselves as ‘must race’ events – in terms of the event support and production, atmosphere, prize money and profile that the global broadcast delivers. Which is all helping our athlete-owned organisation, the PTO, take the sport to the next level.” 

The full PTO US Open women’s line-up can be found here and includes:

Reflecting on the field announcement, PTO CEO Sam Renouf said:

“The PTO Tour is all about celebrating the world’s ultimate endurance athletes – triathletes – and giving them a global stage on which to perform and a $1 million prize purse to win. I’m confident the inaugural  PTO US Open will do that, which is why we are excited by the full reveal of today’s world-class field for the women’s race.”

The $1 million PTO US Open prize fund breakdown is as follows:

What is unique about triathlon, and the PTO Tour especially, is that amateurs get the chance to watch the world’s best triathletes as well as sign up to compete alongside them – over a 25km or 100km triathlon.

The men’s field for the PTO US Open will be released tomorrow – Friday 2 September.

Media wanting to accredit for the PTO US Open should visit https://protriathletes.org/media-accreditation/

For details of where to watch both races live, visit https://protriathletes.org/events/how-to-watch/

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For further information 

Professional Triathletes Organisation

Anthony Scammell E: [email protected]

About the PTO 

The PTO is a new body co-owned by the professional athletes, seeking to professionalize and grow the sport. The inaugural PTO Tour race schedule for 2022 includes: the first-ever PTO Canadian Open (July 23-24); the second edition of $1.5M Ryder Cup-style Collins Cup (August 20-21), which sees Team Europe take on Team USA and Team International; and the first PTO US Open (September 17-18). Each Open carries a minimum prize money of $1M and will be raced over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run). In 2023 and 2024, the PTO Tour plans to expand with the PTO European Open and the PTO Asian Open, alongside their US and Canadian equivalents and the Collins Cup.